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J. Tillman tried to salvage a gig gone awry by jumping off the stage and playing surrounded by the crowd. (Photo by Meri Simon)

South by Southwest’s standing good news-bad news joke goes like this: “You’ll wanna check out this great new band, but that venue they’re playing in …. the sound is so bad you won’t be able to hear a thing.”

Austin is the “Live Music Capital of the World,” and has dozens of clubs where that live music is played. But for SXSW, the need is greater. This year about 80 venues are in use, and many have jury-rigged sound systems that are just awful, impossible sightlines and no chance for any comfort for the thousands of music lovers in town. A few years ago, the conference used an Indian restaurant that didn’t even stop serving in part of the room.

So it’s no surprise that Day One featured a healthy dose of the good news — great new band discoveries — and some of the bad: sad stories of faltering sound systems and inappropriate settings for shows.The good:

Kati Claborn plays mountain dulcimer during Blind Pilot’s show at a club called Submerged. (Photo by Meri SImon)

A Portland band called Blind Pilot is one of the best bands I’ve stumbled across in ages. I was first attracted by the mp3 sample they submitted to be posted on the SXSW web page, but it turns out they’re no secret. NPR, who always seems to be on the cutting edge with new bands (partially thanks to the savvy Bob Boilen and his All Songs Considered feature) is including the group in its day party coming later this week. Boilen and NPR’s imprimatur has helped the Decemberists and Death Cab for Cutie on their way to stardom. And the band has already made one late night TV appearance, on the Carson Daly show late last year.

But they were new to me and their quiet, well-crafted folk/peaceful Americana is irresistible. But great songs are only half the story. Music like this would usually be expressed with the typical tools: guitar, bass, drums, maybe a pedal steel. But Blind Pilot finds room live for trumpet, banjo, upright bass and vibes, and who else is making folk music with that bizarre combination of instruments? To their credit, none of it ever sounds forced.

Lead singer and songwriter Israel Nebeker at the club’s official showcase set. (Photo by Meri Simon)

The core of the band is singer/guitarist Israel Nebeker and drummer Ryan Dobrowski. At home in Portland, they sometimes play as a nine-piece, but for SXSW they were seven strong, and the sound is big without ever overpowering the wonderful subtlety of the compositions, or the great vocal harmonies by Nebeker and banjo/dulcimer/ukelele player Kati Claborn. Their debut album “Three Rounds and a Sound” is pretty much Nebeker and Dobrowski, but future recordings likely will incorporate more of the fullness of the live show.

Befitting a group as smart and tasteful as Blind Pilot, their choice for a cover song at this show — Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere” — was inspired.

Good news for the Bay Area: Blind Pilot will headline at Cafe du Nord in San Francisco on April 13.

Roman Candle is a Nashville (nee Chapel Hill, N.C.) combo that caught my eye at a party called “Belfast to Nashville,” featuring alternating performances by artists from each side of the pond (sponsored by the Belfast City Council, who say they think of Belfast as the Nashville of Ireland). The frontman is Skip Matheny, whose angsty vocals feature prominently in Roman Candle’s rootsy-pop sound. The band has been toiling away for several years since its debut CD, “Says Pop,” in 2002. They’ve been produced and given a crisp pop sheen by former dB Chris Stamey.

St. Vincent is the stage name of Annie Clark, a former member of the berobed Polyphonic Spree, and also a vet of Sufjan Stevens’ band, but she’s stepping out front confidently. She sounds not unlike Kate Bush, but where Kate’s songs drive straight and true, St. Vincent’s dart quirkily left and right and never fail to surprise and amaze. Like Blind Pilot, she makes the most of an unusual band makeup: Clark plays guitar (on albums she’s credited with everything from keyboards and xylophone to triangle) and is joined by a trumpet/clarinet player, a violinist and rhythm section. Her show here was in the spacious Central Presbyterian Church and her often devotional songs seemed right at home.

Her new album, Actor, is out May 5 and she also has a Bay Area date coming soon: May 27 at Bimbo’s in S.F.

J. Tillman is the drummer for 2008 freak-folk sensation Fleet Foxes. But he’s had a solo career going for five albums now, though he’s never broken through. Fans of slow, solemn singers like Jason Molina, Richard Buckner or Damien Jurado would love Tillman. He is playing every day at SXSW and on this day, sound problems and other varied agitation put him over the edge.

Sound checks at SXSW are only sometimes do-able. Even when they are, there is only 15 minutes between acts typically, and there are often six-, seven- and eight-piece groups trying to set up in that scant quarter-hour. It’s kind of miraculous that meltdowns don’t happen more often, but on this day, Tillman seemed especially fragile. He was introduced and was greeted by generous applause, to which he responded, “What’s that for, you don’t even know who I am.” As he tuned and tested his sound, and was obviously unhappy, a crowd member broke the silence with the time-honored jokey song request, a shouted “Freeeeebird.” Tillman raised his hand, displaying the digit often referred to in avian terms, and said, “Here’s your Freebird.” Then his first song was marred by feedback. “I can’t do this. How about if I come down there?” And in a second, he was in the middle of the crowd, completely unplugged from any amplification. The crowd gathered around him, eager to witness one of those SXSW “moments,” the rare collaborations or improvisations you only see in Austin. But Tillman was totally inaudible to all but the first few people around him, and after three songs, he threw up his hands and quit. It was an SXSW moment, but not the kind most people want to share in.

Listening online:

I noted yesterday that the Decemberists show from the Independent Film Channel party would be posted on IFC.com, but forgot to add that the band’s Wednesday night show, featuring the new “Hazards of Love” album played in its entirety, will be hosted on the NPR site. And Blind Pilot’s performance at the NPR day party on Thursday will be on the site as well.

And on TV:

If you get DirecTV, tune to Channel 101, where they are showing many bands performing in the state-of-the-art studios the satellite broadcaster built in the Austin Convention Center. Here’s some info.